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In a move away from the sort of knicker-skimming frocks and mini-shorts worn by Gwyneth Paltrow and Eliza Doolittle ('You've got great legs? Gosh, we hadn't noticed. You should get them out more…'), a certain breed of fashionable woman is opting for an event style that is higher-brow rather than higher-hemmed. And she's nicked it wholesale from your office wardrobe.

I first took note of it back in October last year when Lou Doillon attended the Chanel show in the kind of elegant attire one would imagine a Parisian female lawyer slipping into first thing on a Monday morning. And what it came down to was this: a skirt-and-a-shirt.

Since then, the trend has gathered pace - Keira Knightley did it in New York, Tilda Swinton took it to Cannes, teenager, Hailee Steinfeld wore the Miu Miu version (although it added 20 years to the poor girl). Even Marc Jacobs has done his own male twist on it.

This week both
Dr Who
actress, Karen Gillen, and Laura Bailey have skirted-and-shirted to great effect.

A couple of things to bear in mind if you want to follow suit: the skirt should be A-line, cut to or below the knee, while the shirt needs to be a slippy sort of number, modestly round-necked, or if with buttons, when unbuttoned it shows off the pale curve of the clavicle rather than a bronzed, bouncing bosom.

Because this is the anti paparazzi look, the anti-red carpet look, the my-body-may-be-on-the-Croisette-but-my-mind-is-on-my-art/my-career/my-self-worth look. The only thing that could enhance it further is a pair of spectacles hanging from a chain. Opticians? At the ready…